On June 12, the Xbox & Bethesda Digital Showcase 2022 took place on multiple streaming platforms, we took a look.
The Xbox & Bethesda Digital Showcase 2022 showered us with trailers, game announcements and reveals. We present the highlights and reveal what we can look forward to in the Xbox Game Pass.
Highlights: Bloodsuckers, spaceships & fast cars
During the show, which lasted about 95 minutes, various developers showed over 30 different games that are expected to be launched by 2023. However, to mention all the games presented here would probably go beyond the scope of this article. That’s why we’re presenting three absolute highlights that you should definitely take a look at.
The complete list of all games presented and included in the Microsoft Game Pass can be found below.
Redfall
Cover your necks, peel your garlic and sharpen your stakes. With Redfall, a game of a special kind awaits us in 2023. In the co-op shooter from Arkane Studios, which should be known to most through the Dishonored games or Prey, we shoot our way with a total of four players through the small island town of Redfall, which has been infested by vampires. While we fight our way through hordes of bloodsuckers, cultists and looters, we can choose from four different characters, all of which offer different abilities and advantages/disadvantages. We are curious to see whether the game can knock established co-op shooters like Gears, Back4Blood or Warhammer: Verminitide 2 off their thrones, the first gameplay looked very promising in any case. The game will be released for Windows PC and Xbox.
Starfield
For many, the long-awaited and absolute highlight of the show may have been Starfield. The new single-player action role-playing game from Bethesda Game Studios, which most of you might know from the Elder Scrolls games and the Fallout series, was presented with a 15-minute gameplay trailer. The scenes shown were partly reminiscent of the explorer game No Man’s Sky, which is set in a similar setting. The graphics shown are based on the Creation Engine, which is a further development of the Gamebryo Engine that was already used in games such as Fallout 4 or Fallout 76. As director Todd Howard announced during the presentation, it will be possible to explore over 1000 planets in Starfield. After the debacle surrounding Fallout 76, however, one should remain sceptical about Todd Howard’s statements for the time being. The game will be released for Windows PC and Xbox.
Forza Motorsport 8
Buckle up, put on your helmet and put your foot on the accelerator. Forza Motorsport finally gets a successor after five years with the eighth part of the series. Although we still have to wait until autumn 2023, what we saw in the gameplay trailer gives fans of the racing game series more than just hope. In addition to a dynamic day/night change, the weather will also be able to change during a race. Graphically, the new title from developer Turn 10 Studios takes a huge step forward and should set new standards for racing simulations. Like Redfall and Starfield, Forza Motorsport 8 will also be included in Microsoft’s Game Pass. The game will be released for Windows PC and Xbox.
Microsoft vs. Sony – Gamers benefit
The battle between Microsoft and Sony – Xbox vs. PlayStation – has been raging for two decades now and hasn’t looked too good for Microsoft lately. While Sony was able to sell around 17.3 million PlayStation 5 consoles in 2021, the sales figures for the Xbox Series X/S fell short of expectations with 10.3 million. The US company then went on the offensive and in 2020 not only bought ZeniMax, which also includes the developer studio Bethesda, but in early 2022 also swallowed industry giant Blizzard Activision for an incredible 70 billion dollars. At the Xbox & Bethesda Digital Showcase 2022, Microsoft has now shown how seriously they take the battle on the console market and delivered a good performance.
While Microsoft and Sony are always trying to outdo each other, the gamers are the beneficiaries of it all. As an aside, Microsoft has announced that Xbox Game Pass subscribers will get all LoL Champions and Valorant Agents for free from 2023 onwards, as long as they own the Game Pass. In addition, it will be packed with partly exclusive titles for Windows systems and Xbox in 2022 and 2023. A total of 36 games are included so far:
2022
- Naraka: Bladepoint
- As Dusk Falls
- Sea of Theives: Season 7
- Somerville
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Valheim
- Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
- Grounded
- Lightyear Frontier
- Fallout 76 Expeditions: The Pitt
- High on Life
- Atomic Heart
- Gunfire Reborn
- Persona 5 Royal
- Scorn
- Pentiment
- Halo Infinite: Season 3
- Microsoft Flight Simulator: 40th Anniversary Edition
- Party Animals
- Slime Rancher 2
- Hello Neighbor 2
2023
- Redfall
- Starfield
- Forza Motorsport
- Minecraft Legends
- Ara: History Untold
- Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2
- Flintlock
- Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes
- League of Legends (unlock all heroes)
- LoL: Wild Rift (Unlock all heroes)
- Valorant (Unlock all heroes)
- Teamfight Tactics (Bonuses for Game Pass users)
- Legends of Runeterra (Bonuses for Game Pass users)
- ARK 2
- Persona 3 Portable
- Persona 4 Golden
- Replaced
- Ereban: Shadow Legacy
- Ravenlok
- The Last Case of Benedict Fox
- Cocoon
